# Incredibly bad and weird experiences at restaurants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 30, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040 "2015-09-30T14:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/81 "2015-10-01T17:15:23Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > They certainly shouldn’t have vacuumed early, especially under the feet. But I am definitely of the group that just doesn’t go in to eat if it’s within 30 minutes of closing, and I don’t think I can get out. I worked retail, I know how much it sucks to have to leave late. When I was working retail, I took a bus, and missing the bus meant a 40 minute wait and then walking home in the dark late at night, so I hated staying late. > > Take out works just fine. And you can always count on someone coming in 10 minutes before close on the super slow nights where you haven’t had a table in over 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/82 "2015-10-01T17:26:00Z")
> [@Bruce\_Wayne](#): > > Nobody who has ever worked in a restaraunt is going to sympathize with you on this. Nope. When I waited tables there were a couple of regulars who would always show up 5-10 minutes before we closed, leisurely eat dinner, order dessert and coffee, and sit there chatting in the empty restaurant for as long as they felt like it. I (or whoever the closing waiter was) had to hold my breath for the last half hour praying those fuckers didn’t walk in the door. Ever seen _Scanners_? Yeah, you know the scene I mean. If I’d had that ability. Preferably while they were still in the parking lot so I wouldn’t have to clean it up. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/83 "2015-10-01T17:27:44Z")
A few years ago Mrs. J. and I were on vacation in Alaska, and stopped into a steak joint in Anchorage for dinner. We got our menus and selected our choices. The (30-ish) waitress came back, slid into the booth up against me, put her arm around my shoulder and asked in sultry tones what I’d like for dinner (ignoring the sudden death glare from Mrs. J. across the way). The rest of the meal was uneventful and I left a standard tip amount. I’m still wondering on what Server Planet it’s considered to be a good idea to act that way with the male half of an obviously married couple. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/84 "2015-10-01T17:28:07Z")
> [@Abner\_Ravenwood](#): > > Welp, now it appears that Friendly’s uses hard ice cream for their Fribbles. I guess they got rid of the distinction between the milk shakes and Fribbles. No more \*\*frappe \*\*cans with the milk shakes. Just out of curiosity: how do you pronounce the highlighted word above? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/85 "2015-10-01T17:29:45Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I’m still wondering on what Server Planet it’s considered to be a good idea to act that way with the male half of an obviously married couple. That’s pretty extreme, but truth is that men still pay and compute the tip, often while the Missus makes that inevitable last-minute run to the powder room. But in that vein, add in waitrons who are surly and nearly invisible during the whole meal, then suddenly all smiles and chatty fun when they bring the folder. Just how stupid do they think we are? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/86 "2015-10-01T17:30:46Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Nope. When I waited tables there were a couple of regulars who would always show up 5-10 minutes before we closed, leisurely eat dinner, order dessert and coffee, and sit there chatting in the empty restaurant for as long as they felt like it. I (or whoever the closing waiter was) had to hold my breath for the last half hour praying those fuckers didn’t walk in the door. Ever seen _Scanners_? Yeah, you know the scene I mean. If I’d had that ability. Preferably while they were still in the parking lot so I wouldn’t have to clean it up. And it didn’t occur to anyone to post a sign saying that the kitchen was closed except for a limited menu after a certain time? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/87 "2015-10-01T17:31:56Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > SIL and I at an IHOP. Took them 40 minutes to bring a salad and sandwich (no cooking involved). We wanted to order dessert, but the server threw the bill on our table and left, without a mention of “Can I get you anything else?” > > I wrote in the comments section of the bill "The server was extremely slow and very rude "and put it back on the table while digging out cash. The server notices what I’ve written, reads it and says in a very loud voice “I think you are very rude and nasty to say that about me.” > > I spoke to the manager and got us a free meal and some coupons! Yep, I’d be racing back to that place as soon as possible. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/88 "2015-10-01T17:41:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And it didn’t occur to anyone to post a sign saying that the kitchen was closed except for a limited menu after a certain time? I’d have gladly posted a sign saying “BIOHAZARD AREA - KEEP OUT” if I could have, but that wouldn’t have been true either. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/89 "2015-10-01T18:19:30Z")
I’m really wondering why this thread is in the Pit, it seems more suited for MPSIMS. Where’s the vitriol? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/90 "2015-10-01T18:23:40Z")
> [@destineal](#): > > My sister and her husband went to a Shoney’s several years ago. My brother-in-law pointed out to the waitress that there was a piece of dried food on his fork. She took the fork, peered at it, scraped off the food with her thumbnail, and handed it back to him. When I was young, my dad and grandpa and I were at a greasy spoon place in Ohio. I was squirting ketchup out of one of those standard red ketchup squirt bottles when it clogged. I looked at the tip and noticed that a little cockroach head and feelers wiggling around was causing the clog. I flagged the waitress down and handed it to her. She used her rag to pull the little guy out and handed the squirt bottle back to me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/91 "2015-10-01T18:33:29Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I’m really wondering why this thread is in the Pit, it seems more suited for MPSIMS. Where’s the vitriol? Oh. My bad. The last one was in the Pit, so I just put this one there, too. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/92 "2015-10-01T18:38:13Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > When I was young, my dad and grandpa and I were at a greasy spoon place in Ohio. I was squirting ketchup out of one of those standard red ketchup squirt bottles when it clogged. I looked at the tip and noticed that a little cockroach head and feelers wiggling around was causing the clog. I flagged the waitress down and handed it to her. She used her rag to pull the little guy out and handed the squirt bottle back to me. Many moons ago, I worked as a server in a restaurant, and we would “marry” the old ketchup bottles to make full ones. Some of that ketchup was so old the bottles exploded. That’s why I don’t put ketchup on my fries. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/93 "2015-10-01T18:42:40Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Just out of curiosity: how do you pronounce the highlighted word above? We pronounced it “frap,” rhyming with “crap.” ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/94 "2015-10-01T18:44:47Z")
> [@Abner\_Ravenwood](#): > > We pronounced it “frap,” rhyming with “crap.” Okay. Family… disagreement but the Northeast (especially Down-East) pronunciation seems to be frap. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/95 "2015-10-01T18:48:33Z")
I thought it was frah-pay. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/96 "2015-10-01T18:49:47Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Okay. Family… disagreement but the Northeast (especially Down-East) pronunciation seems to be frap. I’m in Virginia, and I’ve only heard it pronounced frap. Maybe it’s pronounced frap-ay in the higher class restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/97 "2015-10-01T19:15:35Z")
> [@yawuntz](#): > > Last time I was there I chatted with her for a bit, and then the bf dedicated a song to her, "This one’s for Amarantha (not her real name): “…because I used to love her…” He wasn’t leading into the Guns N’ Roses song “Used To Love Her,” was he? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/98 "2015-10-01T19:22:23Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Okay. Family… disagreement but the Northeast (especially Down-East) pronunciation seems to be frap. Frap. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/99 "2015-10-01T19:47:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And it didn’t occur to anyone to post a sign saying that the kitchen was closed except for a limited menu after a certain time? The people with the authority to post such a sign are generally not closers and assume, if they think at all, that closing duties are compressible and if the restaurant closes at 10 and staff should be done and gone by 11, that will be true if they were dead from 8 on or if a bus of high schoolers pulled in at 9:55. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040/100 "2015-10-01T19:50:18Z")
Frap pay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-bad-and-weird-experiences-at-restaurants/733040.md?page=6)